1. Technical Field
This invention relates to software for creating user interface components on a graphical user interface (GUI) display such as a computer screen, and more particularly, to graphical user interface (GUI) regions that are created by a host application using browsers and web pages such that the appearance and functionality of the GUI regions are substantially independent of the host application and such that the GUI regions may be created using a standardized programming language.
2. Related Information
A user of a computer, whether the computer is a PC or a workstation, has by now interacted with graphical interface components on the computer screen. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a graphical user interface (GUI) display 17 such as a computer screen commonly displays a toolbar 16 within a word processor application. The toolbar 16 of the example is comprised of GUI regions such as buttons. A GUI region is any area on the computer screen that, when interacted with by the user, provides a functionality of the application.
In the word processor application for example, the toolbar 16 has GUI regions that, when interacted with, activate macros or other common functions associated with the word processor application. Each GUI region has an identifying appearance on the toolbar and provides a corresponding functionality when that GUI region is interacted with. For example, a GUI region represented by a picture of scissors provides the functionality of xe2x80x9ccut text selectionxe2x80x9d when clicked on. The user may interact with the GUI region, for example, by clicking on the GUI region with a mouse or staring at that GUI region for a predetermined time period or by any other means that are known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The toolbar 16 of FIG. 1 is comprised of three GUI regions including a first GUI region 18 for xe2x80x9copening a text filexe2x80x9d, a second GUI region 20 for xe2x80x9ccutting textxe2x80x9d, and a third GUI region 22 for xe2x80x9ccopying text.xe2x80x9d The prior art GUI regions, including the appearance and functionality of the GUI regions, are created by a host application code which is implemented in a programming language such as C++ or by a graphics language program such as VISUAL BASIC(copyright). Referring to FIG. 1 for example, a host application 12, which may be a word processor application, includes a GUI component module 14 which creates the toolbar 16 of the prior art on the GUI display 17. Significantly, for the prior art toolbar 16, the code of the host application defines the appearance and functionality of the GUI regions 18, 20, and 22.
Thus, in the prior art, several disadvantages exist. First, in order to create the appearance and functionality of the GUI regions, the creator needs to be familiar with programming languages that are not high-level user-friendly standardized languages. Furthermore, the host application code typically needs to be compiled before running the host application for creating the GUI regions.
In the prior art, in order to change the appearance and functionality of the GUI regions, the host application code is rewritten with the same programming language used for the original host application code, and this host application code is recompiled into an executable code before running the host application. Such changes to the GUI regions may be desirable for upgrading the appearance and functionality of the regions. However, most users of the host application may not easily comprehend such programming languages such as C++ or VISUAL BASIC(copyright) in order to be able to modify the GUI regions. In addition, the host application code for all users desiring upgrades would need to be changed and recompiled, or alternatively, such users may be forced to repurchase an upgraded host application.
GUI components such as the toolbar 16 is comprised of at least one GUI region such as the buttons of the toolbar 16. Some host applications include a set of available GUI components or GUI regions, and the user can select which GUI components or GUI regions will appear on the GUI display. However, the appearance and functionality of each of the available GUI components and GUI regions are still determined by the host application code.
Accordingly, a need exists for allowing the appearance and functionality of GUI regions of GUI components to be created and changed without rewriting the host application code.
The present invention is described with respect to example GUI regions comprising a toolbar GUI component within a word processing host application. However, one of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that the present invention may be practiced for any other type of GUI regions within any other type of host application from the description herein.
Accordingly to the present invention, GUI regions are generated using web technology such that the appearance and functionality of the GUI regions may be easily created and upgraded. More specifically, the present invention uses a corresponding browser and an associated web page for implementing each GUI region. In this manner, the appearance and functionality of a GUI region is created within a web page using a high-level user-friendly standardized language such as Hypertext markup language (HTML). In addition, because the web page defining the appearance and functionality of the GUI region is located within a predetermined server, that web page can be created or changed on that predetermined server in order to create or upgrade the appearance or functionality of the GUI region for all users.
With the present invention, the size and location of each of at least one GUI region on a GUI display is defined within a host application. In addition, the host application instantiates a corresponding browser that points to an associated web page defining the functionality and/or the appearance for each GUI region. Furthermore, the host application exposes a corresponding host application object to the corresponding browser for the functionality of each GUI region. The corresponding browser for a GUI region determines a respective appropriate time for the functionality of that GUI region with an event handler. The functionality for that GUI region is executed at that respective appropriate time.
The present invention can be used to particular advantage for implementing toolbars within a host application. In that case, each GUI region, that is thus implemented with web technology, is part of the toolbar provided by the host application. In addition, the present invention can be used to permit a user to define GUI parameters such as the location and size of each GUI region placed by the host application on the GUI display. The user may further specify the web page corresponding to each GUI region in building a GUI display.
In another aspect of the present invention, a web page may include an image tag for defining the appearance of the corresponding GUI region. Each web page may also include a hyperlink to at least one other web page and may include a Java applet and/or active controls that perform the functionality of the corresponding GUI region. Each web page may be written in HTML with each browser being HTML compatible. In a further aspect of the present invention, the web page for each GUI region may be located on a predetermined server accessible via the Internet. In this manner, functions associated with each GUI region can be created, modified, and stored on different computer systems.